We shape our companies, and afterwards, our companies shape us

This is a warped quote from Winston Churchill and from a speech the Prime minister made in the House of Commons. In the event, Churchill mentioned buildings and how we in the end are shaped by the quality of the buildings we occupy.

Published 2015-10-24

The same goes for companies

The entrepreneur shapes the company and when it reaches a certain size, the company and its culture shape its employees. The Nobel price winner Dr Daniel Kahneman compared our two mental forces, system 1 being the intuitive response, to system 2, our logical reasoning, and suggested that system 1 is 200 000 times more powerful.

Using these dimensions and assuming that corporate culture is a system 1 phenomenon, we expect our fresh and clean graduate talents to move into companies and make a difference. The truth is most likely that after a few weeks, irrespective of the good intentions, they are corrupted by the well-entrenched corporate culture. How can they win? The odds are 200 000 to 1.

The true challenge is not to recruit the right people but to keep the talents coming out of our schools and universities, from getting corrupted when they run into the established corporate culture.

The only reasonable approach is to have coaches with insights and the power to intercept.

The power of buildings is nothing compared to the power of corporate culture.

Behavioral economics news

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EQapital writes for people who are interested in a public companies. It can of course be shareholders but also employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. We think they have a common interest in that the company strengthens its competitiveness through good strategic choices.

We therefore focus less on immediate profitability and short-term quarterly economy but feels that more innovation, a responsible society, and communication is more important for the long-term value creation in companies.

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